| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Now this message came to me from the LORD: | 1The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 2“Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins, | 2"As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? Then confront her with all her abominable deeds! |
| 3and give her this message from the Sovereign LORD: O city of murderers, doomed and damned—city of idols, filthy and foul— | 3Then say, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), |
| 4you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object of mockery throughout the world. | 4you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. |
| 5O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near. | 5Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, full of turmoil. |
| 6“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder. | 6"'See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. |
| 7Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you. | 7They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you. |
| 8You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest. | 8You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! |
| 9People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things. | 9Slanderous men shed blood within you. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; they commit obscene acts among you. |
| 10Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating. | 10They have sex with their father's wife within you; they violate women during their menstrual period within you. |
| 11Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters. | 11One commits an abominable act with his neighbor's wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates his sister--his father's daughter--within you. |
| 12There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign LORD. | 12They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, declares the sovereign LORD. |
| 13“But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed. | 13"'See, I strike my hands together at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed they have done among you. |
| 14How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckoning? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I said. | 14Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it! |
| 15I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness. | 15I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among various countries; I will remove your impurity from you. |
| 16And when I have been dishonored among the nations because of you, you will know that I am the LORD.” The LORD’s Refining Furnace | 16You will be profaned within yourself in the sight of the nations; then you will know that I am the LORD.'" |
| 17Then this message came to me from the LORD: | 17The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 18“Son of man, the people of Israel are the worthless slag that remains after silver is smelted. They are the dross that is left over—a useless mixture of copper, tin, iron, and lead. | 18"Son of man, the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are like bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; they are the worthless slag of silver. |
| 19So tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you are all worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem. | 19Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says: 'Because all of you have become slag, look out!--I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem. |
| 20Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you down in the heat of my fury. | 20As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered in a furnace so that the fire can melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my rage. I will deposit you there and melt you. |
| 21I will gather you together and blow the fire of my anger upon you, | 21I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in it. |
| 22and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury on you.’” The Sins of Israel’s Leaders | 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my anger on you.'" |
| 23Again a message came to me from the LORD: | 23The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 24“Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain. | 24"Son of man, say to her: 'You are a land that receives no rain or showers in the day of my anger.' |
| 25Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. | 25Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it. |
| 26Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. | 26Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. |
| 27Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! | 27Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey--shedding blood and destroying lives--so they can get dishonest profit. |
| 28And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign LORD,’ when the LORD hasn’t spoken a single word to them. | 28Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says,' when the LORD has not spoken. |
| 29Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice. | 29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. |
| 30“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. | 30"I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. |
| 31So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!” | 31So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, declares the sovereign LORD." |
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